Sunday, 30 May 2010

CREATIVE DRIFTING--TUCUMCARI TO TEXAS

Here's a left-over experience from Santa Fe that I want to share. Most of the story is obvious--bicycle camper and his dog. I engaged just briefly because he was stressed about approaching bad weather--told me he had mostly walked from Deming, NM to here (350 miles) in 3 weeks--(about 17 miles per day)--was enroute to Las Vegas, NM--(though his gear tells me he is a full time drifter--takes a while to get this organized)--needed to find a sheltered campsite--I was no help, but I gave him money and wished him well. The encounter touched me more than most and I didn't know why--He has a sustainable lifestyle with comfort equipment. Now that I reflect, it's the cheerful, faithful, trusting dog that moves me. It finds itself hitched to a dubious star. But the bond between the two was strong--each seemed to know how much it needed the other. The dog rides, he said, when it gets tired--and to illustrate he merely pointed to the cart--the dog immediately hopped in. I later told myself to cheer up about their situation--The dog gets fed-- has a companion and is not bored like a yard dog. Together they have a lifestyle and in the cosmic drama play a role as indispensible as Napoleon. Now back to Tucumcari, NM---loved this sculpture celebrating the highway of song. Of course I intend to have a close look at the wind turbine. The facts--most notably that it can power 400 homes. Look at this mural closely--Isn't it marvelous--could hardly see where mural ended and real sky began. Here was the stunning surprise--this is one of my favorite people--Brenda--who taught me the basics of computering--in a single week--and is ever helpful when I'm stuck. I never know where she is--sometimes when I call, she's in Chicago--Or Portland or South Carolina--she commands a huge diesel powered mega motor home ---whisking her at whim anywhere on the continent. So I called her to get an update on her whereabouts----INCREDIBLY SHE WAS JUST A FEW BLOCKS AWAY. We were both stunned and celebrated a chatty reunion. --found myself singing to this scene--"Oh give me land, lots of land----Don't fence me in---let me wander over yonder neath the western skies...." Stopped to walk all around a strange and dying town named Nara Vista-The big feature of which was---a considerable collection of old cars. Hundreds of ugly KEEP OUT signs marred the experience, however, and I had a brief clash with the collector--whose disposition matched the signs. Notice that someone has apparantly reacted to all his negativity by smashing the police car's window. ("What you resist---persist"---Werner Erhard) While looking at all this--heard a loud repeated clanging sound--went to investigate. It was this railroad crossing signal gone crazy---clanging and lowering the bar every 30 seconds. Its been reported for a week now--this gentleman explained--no one came to fix it. Getting through required a zippy timing that the locals had mastered. Now, Ill cross a 70 mile slice of Texas on Hwy 54. I have Dodge City, Kansas in my sights but will take a few days getting there. On my distant horizon is a gathering of WIN friends in the famous Flint Hills.